Song Beneath The Song: Redux
by rhrshipper23
Summary: A series of missing moments that take place between 7x18 and 7x19. Each will focus on either Callie or Arizona, but may be written from another character's POV.  Originally part one was titled "Bare" and was listed as a completed fic.
1. Chapter 1

April

_Yes, I'll marry you. _The words had been a godsend to Arizona when Callie finally regained consciousness and opened her eyes. The cloying fear that had gripped the peds surgeon ever since Derek Shepherd's initial assessment eased a trifle at hearing the hoarse, yet lucid words. Although her heart lurched when Callie once again lost the battle against sedation, Arizona was confident that her girlfriend had finally turned the corner. Her shoulders slumped in mindless relief and she closed her eyes, taking a moment to silently offer up a prayer of thanks.

She reached down and took Callie's hand, gently chafing the soft skin. Only then did she notice a second ID bracelet, half hidden beneath the one Callie was given after she was admitted to the ICU. She didn't have to hold the bracelet up to the light to read what it said. She saw these bracelets everyday in the NICU. Each had an isolette number, a surname, and relationship status to the baby printed in bold letters. Arizona could just make out TORRES- Mother in the dim light of the room. She looked down at her own wrists, covered in lurid, purple and red bruises. She hadn't been given a bracelet, nor was she allowed the same visitation rights as any biological parent.

Even in the eyes of the hospital, amongst her own coworkers, Arizona Robbins was _nothing._

Dr. Stark had made it clear that only immediate family was allowed in the NICU and that they had to be accompanied by one of the parents at all times. Non-immediate family members and _friends_ of the parents were simply not allowed inside the unit at any time. The shock must of clearly been showing on her face because he made a point of saying that they were not _his_ rules. That they were the hospital's, and if she had a problem, she could take it up with the hospital board. He almost, _almost_, looked genuinely sorry. But Arizona had worked under him for months now and could clearly read the slightly upturned lip and shrugged shoulders. Robert Stark was secretly pleased and Arizona desperately wanted to find herself a brick to wipe the smirk off of his smug face.

An alarm going off across the unit brought Arizona back from those less than pleasant thoughts. She lifted Callie's hand and gently pressed her lips against the raw, scraped knuckles. "I'll be right back," she whispered, tucking Callie's hand under the thin blanet. She stood, wincing as her sore body protested the movement after sitting for so long. Deciding to page Derek, Arizona started to make her way out of the room. She had just reached the doorway when a sickening jolt of vertigo hit her without warning and the world turned sharply on its axis. She grabbed onto the doorframe and closed her eyes, willing the dizzying sensation to pass and her stomach to settle.

"Dr. Robbins?"

Arizona inwardly sighed and opened her eyes, thankful that the hospital floor no longer appeared to be moving around her. April Kepner was standing no more than a foot away from her, clutching a chart to her chest. Arizona forced a smile in the hope that it would alleviate the concerned look that resident was giving her. "Sorry. It's been a long few days."

"I understand," April replied, cautiously. "Are you alright? You look a little pale?"

Arizona shrugged. "Haven't gotten much sleep. I think it's starting to catch up to me." She rubbed at her eyes tiredly. "I was just going to page Dr. Shepherd. Callie woke up for a few minutes."

"She did?" April asked, craning her head around the doorframe to glance into the room.

Arizona nodded, her smile less forced and more genuine. "She opened her eyes, looked at me and she said…well she spoke to me."

"That's great," April exclaimed. "I was just coming by to give you an update on the baby, since Dr. Sloan hasn't left the NICU and I didn't think that you'd be leaving here any time soon."

"And Dr. Stark didn't have a problem with you doing this?" Arizona asked.

"Oh, well he was called into the ER for a consult," April admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "He doesn't exactly know where I am." She cleared her throat. "But I...er...thought you should know. The ultrasound showed evidence of an IVH, but as of now it hasn't progressed beyond Grade 1."

"That's good," Arizona whispered to herself. Intraventricular hemorrhages were common in premature infants and Grade 1 types were the least severe and usually resolved over time without medical treatment.

"The chest xrays and blood tests were not so good," April continued, flipping through the chart in her hands. "The xrays confirmed RDS and she wasn't responding well to the CPAP, so we had no choice but to put her on the ventilator."

"That explains the IVH," Arizona replied. "Survanta?"

"Yes," April confirmed. "It appears to be working. She no longer exhibits signs of bradycardia and the cyanosis is almost completely gone."

"And the Hypertension?"

April scanned the chart. "We're treating with Hydralazine. It took a few attempts, but they've managed to start a PICC line. She's taken to the fortified formula quite nicely and xrays of her abdomen shows no signs of NEC, even though her weight remains unchanged."

"She should be gaining," Arizona relayed unhappily.

"It's still early," April attempted to reassure her. "Since putting her on the ventilator, blood sugar, sodium levels and pressure have all stabilized." April sighed and once again clutched the chart to her chest. "I heard what Robert…I mean Dr. Stark said," she confessed, staring down at the floor. "About not letting you in."

"Rules are rules," Arizona replied evenly.

"But—"

"And as an attending pediatric surgeon," Arizona cut her off, "I have both the right and responsibility to visit patients in the NICU. And once Dr. Shepherd comes in to check on Callie, I intend to start my rounds."

"But the chief—"

"Said that I could take all the time I need," Arizona replied. "And what I need is to see my baby and the only way that I'm allowed to see her is if I go to work. And that's what I intend to do. Rules are rules and they can't prevent me from seeing her if I'm there as her doctor."

"It's not fair."

"No it's not," Arizona agreed. "But I've discovered that a lot of things in life aren't fair. Look, you should go back before Stark returns and notices that you're missing. I'll be up there in the next hour or so. Until then, page me if anything comes up?"

"Of course," April replied as she turned and made her way towards the elevators.

Arizona took a deep, settling breath. Pushing away from the doorframe, she made her way down the hallway towards the nurses' station. The joy at hearing Callie's declaration was now tempered by the anxiety of what Derek might find during his assessment, as well as the fear brought about by April's update on the baby.

The persistent throbbing behind her eyes was getting worse and the last thing she wanted was to contend with a migraine _and_ Stark at the same time.

There weren't enough bricks in the world to help Arizona Robbins deal with _that_.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **I've decided to make Song Beneath The Song: Redux a continuous story instead of a series of loosely tied together one shots. Part one was called "Bare" and was originally listed as a completed fic.

* * *

><p><span>Bailey<span>

Arizona wearily lowered herself onto the bench in the locker room and pressed a hot towel against her face, mindful of the bandage on her forehead. The pounding in her skull wasn't letting up and she didn't want to risk getting sick in the shower before her shift started. She heard the door open behind her, followed by an exasperated sigh.

"Doctor Robbins, I have been looking everywhere for you," Miranda Bailey complained in a huff as she made her way inside the room. "In on-call rooms, the NICU, the Attendings' lounges, and even the cafeteria."

The towel dropped to the floor and Arizona turned around so fast she saw stars flash behind her eyes. "What's wrong? Is it Callie? The baby? What—"

"Woah, wait," Bailey interjected; holding out her hands to grab Arizona as she attempted to rush passed her. "Callie and the baby are fine," she hastily assured her. "I came looking for you to see how _you_ were holding up."

"Wha—" The tension in Arizona's shoulders dropped noticeably as she let out a long breath, the momentary ball of panic melting away. "Me?" She replied, "I'm fine."

"Okay," Bailey intoned slowly. "Now say it like you mean it."

"I'm fine," Arizona repeated, forcing the grimace on her face into some semblance of a smile. "Just tired…really, really tired."

"Then why did I happen to see _your_ name on the rotation list for next shift?" Bailey asked, hands on her hips. "I distinctly remember the Chief telling you that he'd call a resident in to take your place for the next few days."

"No, I need to be on schedule," Arizona insisted, as she moved to her locker and pulled out her lab coat and ID badge. "You don't understand—"

"What you _need_ is to park yourself next to Torres' bedside," Bailey told her. "It's bad enough her priest-wielding father will be arriving soon—"

"You called Calliope's parents?" Arizona exclaimed.

Bailey snorted. " _I_ most certainly did not," she said, "but the administration did once Torres was admitted. It's their job to call the next of kin."

"Right, right," Arizona muttered to herself. Of course Callie's parents would have to be notified, she rationalized. They were her family and they deserved to know, even if they hadn't spoken to their daughter since she told them about the pregnancy. Right?

"At least they saved you a phone call," Bailey pointed out.

"You're right, you're right," Arizona said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'm just not thinking clearly right now. Of course her parent should know. It's just…" She paused. "I'm not exactly their favorite person."

Bailey sighed. "I guess they haven't gotten on page with the whole girl-girl love situation."

"Her father… maybe, although he's definitely not happy about it," Arizona admitted, wryly. "But her mother and sister? Not so much."

"That's a damn shame," Bailey weighed in, watching with interest as Arizona retrieved small bottle from her locker. ""What's that?"

"This?" Arizona asked, as she opened the cap and spilled a handful of brownish, pills onto her open palm. "Just some Advil… I have a killer headache, and I don't want to have to take it out on the tiny humans or their concerned parents." She popped the pills in her mouth and swallowed them dry, grimacing at the bitter taste.

"Uh, huh," Bailey tsked. "The day I see you take out your frustrations on your precious patients is the day I allow the residents to call me 'the Nazi' to my face."

"I didn't think you knew about that," Arizona said without thinking. Bailey arched an eyebrow at her and she blushed under the glare. "Sorry…so not what I meant to say."

"Right."

Arizona shrugged into her lab coat and attached her ID badge. She glanced up at the clock and groaned. "Look, I appreciate the concern, but I'm fine and I'm going to be late for my shift."

"And when was the last time you ate?"

"Bailey––"

"Less than forty-eight hours ago you were in an automobile accident. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt when you tell me that you're ' fine'." Bailey took a step forward and placed her hands on Arizona shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze. " Even if you do look like you need twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep in the nearest on-call room." She paused. "That said, I do not want to see you upstairs until after you grab something to eat in the cafeteria."

"I'm not—"

"Hungry?" Bailey snorted. "Do not make me drag you down there myself."

"Buh-," Arizona could only stare slack-jawed as the diminutive woman pulled her through the door and down the hallway. They had just reached the elevators, when Bailey's pager went off.

"They're paging me to the pit," Bailey explained, as she clipped the pager back onto the waistband of her scrubs. "Now what are the odds that you'll actually go to the cafeteria to grab something to eat if I leave you here?"

"Good," Arizona assured her. "Very good. I _will_ go to the cafeteria before I head upstairs start my shift."

Bailey gave Arizona a shrewd, calculating look before her expression softened and she gently patted her on the arm. "See that you do." With that, she turned and made her way down the hall, disappearing around the bend and left Arizona standing by the elevators."

"What the hell was that?" Arizona whispered under her breath. Of course, she'd seen glimpses of the softer side of Dr. Miranda Bailey when the other woman was considering participating in the pediatrics Fellowship program.

But this? Why in the world would Bailey traipse around the entire hospital looking for her just to make sure that she was 'all right'. She wasn't the one lying in the intensive care unit hooked up to half a dozen machines with a traumatic brain injury. She wasn't the one whose heart stopped beating not once, but twice. She wasn't the one who wasn't even aware that she had given birth to a premature baby; a baby who was fighting for her own life.

The elevator chimed as the doors opened and Arizona was relieved to see that the car was empty. She was about to take a step towards it, when the door to the stairwell opened and Mark emerged, followed closely by Lexie Grey. She watched as the Resident gently steered him down the hallway with a supportive hand on the small of his back.

Arizona felt a small pang from the gesture. Apart from April and Bailey, she hadn't seen any of her other friends since Callie had been admitted. She understood that they were all on rounds, but still…

The exhaustion and stress was wearing her down. The elevator doors started to close and Arizona, with a reluctant sigh, let them, realizing that she'd finally get to visit Sofia without having to deal with Mark.

"I didn't exactly promise Bailey that I'd get something to eat," she told herself. "I implied, but never promised."

Arizona turned and made her way towards the Attending's lounge. While she didn't have time to eat before her shift started, she hoped that a cup of coffee would help alleviate the pounding behind her eyes before the Advil kicked in.

Not that it mattered. A headache wasn't going to stop her from entering the NICU. If she couldn't see Sofia as a parent, then she _would_ see the preemie as her doctor.


End file.
